Market Expertise

As students of the market, we are more than a group of legal headhunters who market candidates or perform specific searches. While we look at the micro-economic view, we also evaluate the macro-economic issues that impact law firm’s growth, profitability and ability to attract (and retain talent). We evaluate law firm infrastructures, management styles, leadership, lateral philosophy, compensation formulas, work environment, partnership agreement and relevant trends.

We are recognized by various publications including American Lawyer, The National Law Journal and Daily Journal California Law Business, (CLB) and The Daily Journal, a leading California legal publication has recognized our expertise and requested our input on a variety of topics. In fact (CLB) has printed more of our articles than almost all other legal search firms combined! Articles included in this package are list on the left.

Esquire consultants have a cumulative total of 75 years search and placement experience and handle practice areas including:

Case Study
Our success in playing the key headhunter role in staffing Winston & Strawn’s Los Angeles office was not only a testament to our successful representation of several top partners, but our knowledge of the market. By early 1999, Winston & Strawn, a Chicago based national powerhouse of 700 lawyers had concluded that the West Coast was an important part of the firm’s strategic growth objective. James Thompson, former four term Governor of Illinois and chairman of the firm and James Neis, firm-wide managing partner met with Esquire president, Sandford Lechtick. The three had a frank discussion of the overall job market, their firms, business philosophies and growth objectives, culture, compensation and overall game plan.

The two nationally known lawyers probed Lechtick on his views of the California job market, available talent, potential law firm mergers, compensation and other issues. The two were especially interested in how Esquire could assist Winston & Strawn in landing key partners who would form the nucleus of their L.A. office.

In the following year, the two, as well as several other senior partners met with Mr. Lechtick and his staff several more times to discuss the market and interview top partner prospects. Indeed, in a one year period, Winston & Strawn met, through Esquire representation, the managing partners of several major law firms for merger discussions and interviewed several top partner candidates.

As of this writing, Esquire has successfully represented Lee Paterson, formerly national labor chair of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal who brought a multi-million dollar practice, the core of his labor group: Laura Petroff, employment litigation partner and several associates; Neal Marder, business litigation partner from Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal and Debra Albin-Riley, litigation partner and former chair of the hiring committee at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson in Los Angeles.

As a testament to Esquire’s ability to represent top talent, Ms. Petroff was elected to the firm-wide executive committee and made managing partner of Los Angeles. Ms. Albin-Riley was selected as hiring partner. One senior partner commented that “Esquire hit a home run”.